“Cancer waiting times across the pathway: key statistics” presents data and key trends on diagnostic testing and cancer waiting times across the UK.
It includes information on:
Waiting times - performance against key targets
Activity – the number of tests and patients seen
The brief is updated quarterly. The latest performance in each nation is also available below.
78.6% of people were diagnosed or had cancer ruled out within 28 days of an urgent referral in August 2026.
The NHS England target is 80%.
Only 92.1% of people started cancer treatment within 31 days of a decision to treat in August 2026.
The NHS England target is 96%.
Only 71.9% of people started cancer treatment within 62 days of an urgent referral in August 2026.
The NHS England target is 85% (with an interim of 75% target introduced in March 2026).
In Scotland, only 94.8% of people started cancer treatment within 31 days of a decision to treat in the quarter up to June 2026.
The Public Health Scotland target is 96%
In Scotland, 73.6% of people started cancer treatment within 62 days of an urgent referral in the quarter up to June 2026.
The Public Health Scotland target is 95%.
In Wales, only 59.9% of people started cancer treatment within 62 days of the point of suspicion of cancer in August 2026.
The Welsh Government target is 75%.
In Northern Ireland, only 87.9% of people started cancer treatment within 31 days of a decision to treat in the quarter up to June 2026.
The NI Department of Health target is 98%
In Northern Ireland, only 30.8% of people started cancer treatment within 62 days of an urgent referral in the quarter up to June 2026.
The NI Department of Health target is 95%.
Note, there are differences in which patients are counted against standards between each UK nation, so performance is not comparable.
For more detailed data breakdowns please visit our Cancer Waiting Times Data Hub
Read the data briefProduced by the Cancer Intelligence team in the Health Policy & Evidence department, Cancer Research UK
If you have any comments, questions or feedback, please reach out to our team.
